A Touch of Madness
by indianpipe
Summary: Reid deals with his most private fear while juggling work, school and a budding relationship. Reid and OFC


AN: Throwing my offering into the Criminal Minds Fanfic arena….I think its season 2 or 3 where Reid says he is working on an additional Bachelors in Philosophy….I wonder what his classes are like?

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its characters do not belong to me…I seek no compensation for this story it is just for fun.

No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.  
**Aristotle**

"Reid…don't be getting all metaphysical on us tomorrow. Remember you have a few of my reports to finish up." Morgan's stern warning was quickly followed by a shake of his head and a sigh of laughter as he watched Reid run for the stairs, waving him off and goodbye at the same time.

He was running late, try as he might, work was just not condusive to taking night classes. Fortunately, his philosophy professor had understood about his commitments and agreed that attending all classes was not mandatory if he kept up with the reading, which, he smiled, was no problem, and handed all of his assignments in on time…this part got tricky if the BAU got called in on a lengthy assignment, more than once he had to trade sleep for writing a paper that was due. Last evening was a perfect example, everyone had stayed late for briefing on a possible case in New York, by the time he was back in his apartment it was 2am and he still had half his Aristotle paper to write…coffee, thank goodness for coffee, he sighed.

He made it to class just in time to slip into his seat near the door, the professor was writing on the board and hadn't noticed him stretch to place his paper on the top of the pile on his desk. He got out his Aritstotle book, it was heavy and brown, rather a nusaince to lug around but there was an oldness to its look that appealed to him.

The professor underlined the quote on the board and Reid looked up to read it. He sat motionless letting the statement wash over him.

"What thoughts do we have on this topic class…the idea has been much discussed and played out in many famous biographies?" The professor crossed his arms…waiting for responses.

Reid sank back in his chair considering the notion that the quote referred to…was this true…would this in fact be his own fate, "No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness." If he were to rely on statistics, the answer would have to be yes. Lost in his own self analysis he hadn't noticed a hand go up next to him.

"Yes, Miss Dove, you have a thought on the subject?" The professor motioned for her to proceed. Reid looked over, listening, usually there was a long silence in the class before the professor would give up and eventually call on himself to start off the discussion. It was the first time in his life where he was actually the oldest one in class. He thought back to the the first day when he had impulsively dropped the Doctor from his name when asked…He had sensed that it would have been off putting for the other students if they had thought him a doctor.

She started off tentative, not sure of her own formulation; "I think…uh…ego contributes to this."

"And how is that Miss Dove?" The professor coaxed.

"Well…if we had less time to think about ourselves…perhaps people who are gifted with genius would be less likely to develop a particular neurosis." She finished still a little unsure and with a blush breaking forth from her throat diffusing to the apple of her cheeks.

Reid raised his hand… "Yes...Mr. Reid…how nice of you to join us." Light laughter rung in good nature.

"I think Miss Dove you are partially correct in your analysis, work can keep some neurosis at bay but to abandon self- awareness could destroy any hope of diagnosis or even p..prevention. Reid's voice cracked a bit on this last word…this was so very personal to him, the idea of heading down the same path as his mother, to almost an exhausting degree, he practiced a self-analysis of his behavior and would chastise himself if he exhibited any of the classic signs, or for that matter any subtle signs of schizophrenia or paranoia.

Miss Dove turned to him, considering his answer and the manner in which he had responded, " Can we not just be who we are, must we always be compared to what is considered normal, socially acceptable, labels sometimes seem a way to degrade us as human beings." Miss Dove now had turned a warm shade of red, she tucked a stray strand of strawberry blond hair behind her ear and looked down at her table, embarrassed that she had spoken a bit to passionately on something she was not entirely sure she even agreed with.

He wanted so much to reel statistics off on serial murderers, paranoid schizophrenics, obsessive compulsives but he controlled himself, saying a silent thank you to Morgan for teaching him, in his own gruff way, not to alienate people with too many numbers, "…you gotta think about who you are talkin to kid…you can't be reelin off facts to these families that have lost a loved one…it's just cold and inhuman." Reid had seen Miss Dove blushing, and knew, if anything, she seemed very human.

…Unfortunately, Miss Dove, some people's behavior is so hurtful or violent that no amount of industry could ever keep them from harming themselves or someone else. Reid worried his lips to and fro, hoping that he had responded gently enough that the girl would not take offence.

She raised her gaze to him, her blush fading, "To that extreme I agree with you, but what about the nonviolent person that lives in the world today…constantly hearing about diagnosis after diagnosis of bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, etc….I think this type of society lends itself to sort of a selfish habit of overanalyzing every decision and move that people make. How can we learn if we don't try things for fear they may appear somewhat outside what is acceptable."

Reid thought about himself, tirelessly trying to check his own behavior, knowing full well that most of the time he was acting perfectly fine, but he had to admit she was right, it did seem a selfish pursuit and also totally exhausting at times. He nodded his head in agreement, little did she know, he was thinking of personal experience.

Class was over and when they got up to leave Reid noticed Miss Dove, she stood and came up to just his shoulder, he estimated approximately 5' 4'' tall and about 115 lbs. He didn't get any further when she spoke to him.

"Hey…um…Reid?...I think you dropped this ?" she handed him a pen that had rolled out of his notebook.

"Oh thanks….it's uh…Spencer." He threw his messenger bag over his shoulder and walked out behind her. Her hair smelled like strawberries, he liked how the smell matched the color and wondered if she planned that out.

"Listen…" she said, "I hope you're not thinking I'm strange…I don't usually talk in class but there is always this weird silence and then the professor single's you out…if you're there to answer the question…I always feel bad he picks on you every time…I know I don't enjoy having to talk in class and I thought I would give you a break." She blushed furiously and tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing little blue beaded earrings.

"Well…thanks…I know what you mean about not liking to speak in class…I use to be that way but I think finally I'm getting a bit better." Reid was impressed that not only had she sparked his interest with her ideas but now he knew it had cost her something even to talk, so she was speaking from personal experience too, he thought.

"Well good night." She was about to turn down a different hallway and then stopped. "it's Ally, my name is Ally." She looked down at her shoes.

Reid was not use to talking to a pretty girl that was actually shy…even more shy than he was himself.

He knew he was going to be a walking zombie tomorrow but once again Morgan's advice in his head would win out…"Kid she wouldn't have told you her name and the other stuff if she wasn't interested, come on don't just stand there…take control." Reid smiled to himself, hearing Morgan in his head was definitely not near normal but tonight he would let his idiosyncrasies work for him and …how did Ally put it? 'just be who he was'.

"Would you like to get some coffee with me Ally?" He smiled

" um..Ok…I would like that." She walked over to him and fell into step beside him letting out a liitle laugh at their height difference. Spencer looked down and smiled.


End file.
